WE now come to the fifth of the Spiritual fruit listed in Galatians 5. It is kindness.
How might we describe this fruit? How do we describe a person who is kind, or who shows this fruit?
Maybe we all have some images in our own mind of what kindness is. My image is of an elderly lady with a friendly smile who offers me a cup of tea and a biscuit.
I think this must be a childhood image. Maybe some people like that were kind to me long ago and the image has stuck in my mind.
I wonder, now that I am a bit older, whether or not younger people see me in the same way.
Kindness is more than doing acts of kindness, although this is a big part of it. Acts of kindness are things in which you go out of your way to do something good, helpful or beneficial to someone else.
It is a way of bringing a bit of joy into their lives. Not long ago, we had some floods at Lungga, and our Mission base was affected.
Some people came to help clean up, and they brought some food. They were acts of kindness.
Many such acts of kindness were shown to people affected by the flood, and continue to be shown to people in Haiti where so many died in the earthquake.
But it is possible to do acts of kindness and not be kind. If an act of kindness is what you are paid to do, for example distribute rice to people affected by a tsunami or a flood, then the act of kindness is not something that comes from a compassionate and kind heart.
No matter how thankful the people are who receive the gift of rice or whatever else it may be, the giver has not necessarily reflected or displayed the fruit of kindness.
Like all the other fruit we have examined over the last few weeks, we need to remember that kindness is also something that has its origin in God the Holy Spirit.
We can only really begin to reflect the fruit of kindness if we have experienced the kindness of God ourselves, and acknowledged it with thanksgiving.
In some ways, kindness is a bit like grace. Grace is something good that people receive when they have no claim, right or merit for it.
God the Father has shown us kindness by showing us mercy, and by not punishing us for our sin, and especially by sending His eternal Son to come in human flesh to die for us so as to save us.
Kindness is a quality in the very nature and character of God, and so when the fruit of kindness becomes evident in our lives, it is simply that we are becoming Godlier, more Christlike.
Just as God showed kindness to those he loves, so we are to show kindness to others because we love them as we are meant to do. And that kindness will be reflected in deeds of kindness.
Now most deeds of kindness are well appreciated, because both the giver and the receiver see something of the tender compassionate heart of God reflected in the act of kindness.
However, just as it is possible to do kind acts without being kind, it is equally possible to be kind in a way that may not be seen as kindness.
There is a saying that comes to mind: “You have to be cruel to be kind.”
What that means is that sometimes real kindness may not be appreciated. If your little child is playing too close to the fire, you might smack his hand in order to get him away from it.
He may not regard the smack as an act of kindness. But the parent knows that it is an act of kindness. The parent wants to protect the child from even greater harm or injury that the child may not be aware of.
Kindness, like all the other fruit of the Spirit, seeks the well being of the other person.
It seeks to build up, to encourage, to foster growth and maturity, to increase holiness and righteousness.
Kindness has as its aim for the giver to be like Christ and to encourage and promote the recipient to be like Christ too.
Have you been blessed by receiving and experiencing the kindness of God?
If so, then the challenge is to let that kindness be reflected outwards from our own lives into the lives of others.
We are to pass on what we have received. The picture or analogy of fruit really suggests that it is meant to bless others. The tree that bears no fruit is cut and thrown into the fire.
The tree that bears fruit brings joy and blessing to those who taste the fruit and partake of it.
How does the fruit of kindness grow in your life?
Does it bless others and so glorify God?
REV. KEVIN RIETVELD
(Rev. Kevin Rietveld is Director of Short Workshops In Mission (SWIM), a mission arm of the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia that is supporting local churches here)
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
